LATIN-AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL BRIEFS

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas).

Power

Itaipu Sells Hydropower Technology to Chinese Dam

A team of technicians from the Brazilian Itaipu Hydro Plant traveled to China to begin the process of selling and transferring Brazilian technology for operating and maintaining the enormous Three Gorges hydroelectric dam. Both plants have similar turbines and they have been built by the same consortium.

Three Gorges has been under construction since 1993 on the Yangtze River and it is expected to be finished in 2009. The Chinese installation has replaced Itaipu as the biggest hydroelectric dam in the world with 26 turbines of 700 megawatts (MW) each and capacity to generate a total 18,000 MW, compared with the 14,000 MW of the bi-national Brazilian/Paraguayan generator with its 20 turbines.

Alternative Fuels

Brazil’s Dedini to Produce Ethanol from Plant Waste

Dedini SA Industrias de Base (Sao Paulo, Brazil) is planning to produce ethanol on an industrial scale from plant waste. The development could evolve the industry by increasing fuel output without dropping supplies of food staples such as corn or sugar. Jose Luis Oliverio, Dedini’s Vice-President, said it has developed an economically viable ethanol production technology based on cellulose.

Dedini stands out as one of the most important capital goods manufacturers in Brazil, and world leader in the sugar-alcohol market.

Brazil and Senegal Sign Biofuel Agreement

The presidents of Brazil and Senegal signed an agreement facilitating the production and use of biofuels in Senegal and in the rest of the continent. The agreement was one of three signed by Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Abdoulaye Wade, during Wade’s visit to Latin America.

Senegalese technicians may have to visit Brazil to be trained on the production of ethanol from sugar cane and biodiesel from soybeans or other leguminous plants. Brazilian technicians will also travel to Senegal to help the staff put into practice what they learned in Brazil.

Oil & Gas

Pemex to Invest $4.8 Billion in Oil Fields

This year, Mexico’s state owned oil company, Pemex, will invest $4.8 billion in two of its fields located in the Bay of Campeche: (1) Cantarell Field, which is the biggest field in the country and second in the world after Ghawar in Saudi Arabia, and (2) Ku-Maloob-Zaap (KMZ) field.

The Cantarell Field is a heavy oilfield, located 100 kilometers off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, in the Gulf of Mexico and it is the largest offshore development project in the world. The $2.3 billion investment aims at raising Cantarell’s production to 1.53 million barrels per day.

Delay on Reactivation of Cuba’s Cienfuegos Refinery

Although the Cienfuegos refinery’s Maintenance Manager Roberto Lopez stated that the rehabilitation of the plant is expected to be finished by the end of this year, project authorities stated that there will be a delay in the reactivation of such plant for which its reopening is no longer expected to take place in December 2007.

The construction of the Cienfuegos refinery, located in Cienfuegos province in Cuba, began in 1991 with the collaboration of the Soviet Union; however, the plant never got to produce. The rehabilitation of this refinery, which is part of Venezuela’s Plan Siembra Petrolera implemented by President Hugo Chavez in 2005, is in charge of a PDV-CUPET, a joint venture formed by Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, and Cuba’s CUPET.

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